Sunday Service for 28 June, 2020: fifth Sunday of Pentecost
28 June 2020: 5th Sunday of Pentecost
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri C Peterson,
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Contact: tpeterson@churchofscotland.org.uk
Welcome and Announcements
Though we cannot be together in person, we can be together in spirit! Please note the following announcements:
* Coffee Fellowship Time will happen today on Zoom! The room will be open from 11:45 – 12:45 for you to drop in for however long you wish, so grab a cup of tea or coffee (or juice or whatever you prefer!) and maybe a biscuit, and come have a chat! If you need the Meeting ID and password instead of just clicking the link, please let Teri know (email, text, phone call!). We look forward to seeing you!
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online here! If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* We also now have an audio recording of the service available on the phone! Simply dial 01475 270 037 to listen to the most recent service. Please share this number with your neighbours, friends, family, and fellow church goers who don’t have the internet, so they can listen in!
* There will be meetings of The Kirk Session, via Zoom, on 30 June (informal meeting) and 7 July (constituted meeting), both at 7:30pm. For login details, contact Teri.
* The theme for worship this summer is “Postcards of Faith” — we’ll be getting some postcards from God’s people throughout scripture, following their journeys with God and each other.
* This summer we are taking a Church Family summer trip! We’ll be journeying together from Shore to Shore — the shores of the Clyde to the shores of the sea of Galilee, to the hometown of St. John the Evangelist. Keep track of how much time you spend in prayer, reading the Bible, serving others, or going for a walk. For every 10 minutes, you move us 1km along the journey! Then each week send Teri a note, text, or phone call saying how far you “traveled” this week. So far we have made it to Istanbul!
* Children’s Time happens each Sunday morning at 11am on Zoom. If you would like the login details, please contact Teri.
* Young Adults (age 15-25ish) gather for Bible Study (it’s now BYOP – bring your own pizza) at 1pm on Zoom. If you would like login details, please contact Teri.
* Churches across Scotland are calling people to join together in prayer on Sunday evenings at 7pm, placing a lit candle in the window and spending time in prayer for others. Our Sunday evening prayer services will be shared across our “Fuzzy Parish” (now called CONNECT). Tonight’s service will be led by David at 7pm on the new Connect Facebook page, and be sure to like / follow it while you’re there!
* Feel free to share this with others, with the attribution information at the top. If you know someone who does not have access to the internet and who also does not receive the tape ministry, you can either print this service out and share it with them, or let Teri know via email or phone call and we will be sure they receive a printed copy.
* Subscribe to our YouTube Channel so you never miss a video. Don’t miss “wine and the word” — an occasional series during the 5pm hour that helps us transition from one part of the day to the next, via reflections similar to those that would normally have been in the “God’s Story, Our Story” take home inserts given out each week.
* Mid-week there is a devotional email, which is also printed and included with the following Sunday’s sermon distribution to those without internet access. You can subscribe to the email here.
* Also mid-week there is often a facebook live video devotional or a Virtual Tea Break on the St. John’s Gourock Facebook page.
* If you or a church member you know is in need of friendly phone calls or help with anything while they self-isolate, please contact Teri. Elders are already in contact with people in their districts as well, and you can pass information to them! We are hoping to continue and even deepen our connections to one another, building up the Body of Christ even when we can’t be in the building.
~~~~~
If you prefer to read rather than worship by video, you can find the script after the second hymn.
Hymn #153: Great is Thy Faithfulness
Prayers, Reading, and Sermon
Song: Lord (I Don’t Know)
Call to Worship and Opening Prayer
There is nowhere we can go that God is not already present.
There is no road we can walk where we will be left on our own.
God is not contained in one place or time.
Jesus promised to be with us, even to the end of the age.
So come, from wherever you are, whoever you are.
Come, whatever your past, and whatever your plans.
Come to meet God here and now, and discover what the Holy Spirit plans for you and for us.
Let us worship God together, in spirit and truth.
Let us pray.
Surely you know the plans you have for us, O God.
Your desire is for flourishing for all, for abundant life in every corner of creation.
We turn our attention to you this day, longing to know the future.
We confess to you that we have plenty of plans, and steps, and dreams,
but we want certainty.
We want to know exactly what is next, and when, and where, and how.
We admit that your plans seem shrouded in mystery,
and so we turn away from them and toward our own desires instead.
We confess that prayerful waiting is difficult,
and that we worry we won’t like the direction you show us.
Forgive us, Lord.
Help us to trust you,
and to follow your leading even if it takes us into the unknown.
Help us to persevere through the uncomfortable,
so that we may see the fullness of your plans for a future with hope.
Keep us walking close to you.
We ask in the name of Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray together,
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Sung Prayer #159 (words: Timothy Dudley-Smith, tune: Lord of the Years by Michael Baughen)
Lord, for ourselves; in living power remake us,
self on the cross and Christ upon the throne;
past put behind us, for the future take us,
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.
Friends, hear this good news: if anyone is in Christ, the whole creation is made new. The old has gone, and the new has come. So know this and live as Christ’s people, forgiven, loved, and free. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Reading: Genesis 46.1-7, 26-27 (Common English Bible)
Israel packed up everything he owned and traveled to Beer-sheba. There he offered sacrifices to his father Isaac’s God. God said to Israel in a vision at night, “Jacob! Jacob!” and he said, “I’m here.” He said, “I am El, your father’s God. Don’t be afraid to go down to Egypt because I will make a great nation of you there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I promise to bring you out again. Joseph will close your eyes when you die.” Then Jacob left Beer-sheba. Israel’s sons put their father Jacob, their children, and their wives on the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They took their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and arrived in Egypt, Jacob and all of his children with him. His sons and grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters—all of his descendants he brought with him to Egypt. … All of the persons going to Egypt with Jacob—his own children, excluding Jacob’s sons’ wives—totalled 66 persons. Joseph’s sons born to him in Egypt were 2 persons. Thus, all of the persons in Jacob’s household going to Egypt totalled 70.
Sermon: I am going with you (Postcards of Faith 2)
A lot has happened since last week’s reading about Abraham and Sarah pulling up stakes and moving through the land God was showing them. We’re two generations on now, and Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, is elderly himself. You might have noticed that the story goes back and forth between calling him Jacob and calling him Israel — because many years ago, when Jacob and his wives and children were traveling and were about to meet up with Esau, 20 years after Jacob had stolen Esau’s birthright and blessing, Jacob had a dream in which he wrestled all night long with a stranger…and the wrestling was so fierce and Jacob so insistent about not giving up that the stranger gave him a blessing and changed his name. Some think the stranger was God, others an angel, still others think it was Jacob wrestling himself and his inner demons…but whatever the case, it ended with Jacob being given the name Israel, which might mean “strives with God” or it might mean “God strives”. Either way, it is a name that recalls the way he refused to give up on his wrestling with God, even when the night was long and the going was tough, and that is the name that will be given to the whole community and nation of people who are descended from Jacob and his twelve sons: Israel.
Today we have come to the culmination of a saga that is by turns heartbreaking, infuriating, confusing, wonderful, and awe-inspiring. Jacob’s son Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, but had risen to be the most powerful man in Egypt besides the Pharaoh. He used his skills, and allowed God to work through him, so that while there was a famine everywhere, Egypt still had food. After several back-and-forth visits by his brothers, some intrigue, some weeping and some rejoicing, it was time for the brothers to bring their father down to Egypt, to re-settle in new land, and most importantly, to see his favourite son, whom he had thought was dead these past many years.
And so Israel pulled up the stakes, just as his forebears had done, and began to journey by stages away from his home in the land God showed his ancestors.
The first place that Israel stopped is the place where he and Esau had grown up, with their parents Isaac and Rebekah. It’s a place that Abraham had found water, and where both Abraham and Isaac had made treaties with the local king. Jacob was now the third generation in his family to worship in that same spot. Given that God had promised to show them the land, it made sense that they would stop to worship as they proceeded to leave the land — especially since in that time and culture, gods were thought to basically live in their territory. To leave the land God had given them might also mean to leave God behind, and they would be understandably worried about that!
But our God is different. God appeared to Jacob, just as he had appeared in that same place to speak to Abraham and Isaac, to say: I am going with you.
I am going with you.
The God who wouldn’t let go of Jacob all those years ago on the riverbank, who blessed him in the struggling…
the God who sat beside him through all these years of grieving the loss of his son…
this God is going with him on this next stage of the journey, even into a foreign land.
So when it feels like we are struggling — we don’t let go, because God doesn’t let go of us.
And when we are sitting in the valley of the shadow of death — we are not alone.
And when we are leaving behind everything familiar and heading into the unknown — God is going with us.
For all the times we have subconsciously assumed that God lives in our church buildings, or at least that God speaks loudest in a church building, now we know that God is going with us when we are outside of them, whether we are on the internet or walking through the neighbourhood or sitting in our windows looking out at the rain.
Though the world feels different, almost foreign, like we can’t quite find our footing…God is going with us. Our God is not contained in a particular place, or a particular way of doing things, or a particular understanding or language or profession. God is determined — often more determined than we are! — to come alongside us wherever we are, to guide us to walk together on God’s path, to ensure we are never alone, no matter where we find ourselves.
Once we hear the words that Jacob heard, “I am going with you,” the question becomes: what will we do now? How will we live, knowing that God is going with us into this unknown territory? What choices, behaviours, words, actions, and relationships will demonstrate that we are walking with God even outside the church building, even outside our comfort zones of the ways we’re used to?
A lot is shifting around us. We are being asked to consider the impact our words and choices have on people we have not thought much about before. Sometimes it might feel as if everything we do is wrong, or like it’s impossible to use any words at all. Sometimes it might feel as if the world we knew is slipping away, and we feel unsteady. That’s okay! Discomfort can lead to growth, and we can learn from mistakes, if we are willing to shift and re-negotiate and make space for different people, with their different experiences. Despite the fact that we have been the definers of reality and normality for centuries, there has always been more to the story. We are being given the gift of seeing other perspectives, and it might feel like leaving our homeland and heading for Egypt…but if it does, remember: God said, “do not be afraid, I am going with you.” How might we respond to these changes in the world, knowing that God is with us all?
Our personal journeys through this pandemic experience, our church journey into the unknown future God has planned, and our cultural journey away from white supremacy and toward justice and wholeness — any of these would be anxiety-producing on their own, and we are making all three at once! So today, let’s learn from Jacob, who wrestled with God until his blessing became apparent, even though it left him limping. When Israel began this leg of his journey, pulling up the stakes and moving forward, he first went back to his old stomping grounds, a place he knew he could meet God. But it was just a pause on the journey, because when he heard the message there, he pulled up stakes again and went onward, trusting God’s promise: I am going with you. He could not stay in that place, even though it was familiar and he reliably encountered God there. It was not the place he was called to be anymore. He had to move forward, not back.
We, too, can pause at our familiar places, and seek God’s voice. We, too, will hear again the promise: I am going with you. And we, too, can journey on by stages into this unknown land, trusting God’s promise to be with us, guiding us every step of the way. We may make mistakes, it may be uncomfortable, we may long for the familiar, we may struggle to understand and incorporate new ways of thinking and being that include more people….but we are not alone. Therefore, let us live as God’s people, with our choices, words, and relationships reflecting that grace.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn: We Rejoice to be God’s Chosen
words: John L. Bell & Graham Maule © WGRG
tune: NETTLETON
We rejoice to be God’s chosen
not through virtue, work or skill,
but because God’s love is generous,
unconformed to human will.
and because God’s love is restless
like the surging of the sea,
we are pulled by heaven’s dynamic
to become, not just to be.
We rejoice to be God’s chosen,
to be gathered to God’s side,
not to build a pious ghetto
or be steeped in selfish pride;
but to celebrate the goodness
of the One who sets us free
from the smallness of our vision
to become, not just to be.
We rejoice to be God’s chosen,
to align with heaven’s intent,
to await where we are summoned
and accept where we are sent.
We rejoice to be God’s chosen
and, amidst all that we see,
to anticipate with wonder
that the best is yet to be.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
From the moment you first spoke, O God, your word of love has brought light to the world.
You create, you call, you lead, you sustain — all with love.
We praise you for your faithfulness,
for your light guiding us on your way,
for your constant care.
We give you thanks for those who are companions on this journey of life,
for those who have been conduits of your blessing to us,
for those who have shown us a glimpse of your abundant life.
We give you thanks for the gift of living in community,
and for those who offer their talents and time to others.
As we cautiously look forward from these days of worry and illness,
we especially give thanks for the people whose work has brought us through this time of trial:
Doctors and nurses, key workers who kept us fed and moving and cared for,
Scientists and researchers,
Teachers and carers,
Journalists and politicians,
Neighbours and volunteers.
We are grateful for their efforts, for their energy and commitment.
We ask that you would continue to guide and inspire them along the right path.
We remember those who are grieving in these days, and those still worried for their health or well-being. We pray for your spirit of comfort and healing to be felt, known, and seen.
Today we especially pray for people affected by the violence in Glasgow this week — for those injured, for those worried for their loved ones, and for those who must live with the trauma of witnessing such violence. We ask your comfort and courage for the people who came here seeking safety and found violence once again entered their homes. We ask your strength for the officers and medics who responded, and for those who will seek answers and perhaps justice. We ask that you would make yourself known to all in the area who wonder how this could happen, and how to build a community of care and peace where all people can flourish.
And we remember, O God, that too many of your people live with violence every day — in their homes, in their neighbourhoods, in their nations. We pray that you would lead us all to do justice and love kindness, in order that there may truly be peace in every place.
You promised to go with us, God.
This journey toward your kingdom come on earth as in heaven feels long, but we know that we walk it together, with each other and with you.
Fill us with your Spirit that we may follow in your way.
We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Amen.
Benediction
As you go forth into your day, your week, your work, your family, your online interactions, your new normal, remember: the Spirit of God goes above you to watch over you; the Spirit of God goes beside you to be your companion; the Spirit of God goes before you to show you the way, and behind you — to push you into places you might not go alone; and the Spirit of God goes within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine.
May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Response (tune: Gourock St. John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit, when we meet,
bless sanctuary and street.
Sunday Service for 21 June 2020, fourth Sunday of Pentecost
21 June 2020: 4th Sunday of Pentecost
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri C Peterson,
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Contact: tpeterson@churchofscotland.org.uk
Welcome and Announcements
Though we cannot be together in person, we can be together in spirit! Please note the following announcements:
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online here! If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* We also now have an audio recording of the service available on the phone! Simply dial 01475 270 037 to listen to the most recent service. Please share this number with your neighbours, friends, family, and fellow church goers who don’t have the internet, so they can listen in!
* The theme for worship this summer is “Postcards of Faith” — we’ll be getting some postcards from God’s people throughout scripture, following their journeys with God and each other.
* This summer we are taking a Church Family summer trip! We’ll be journeying together from Shore to Shore — the shores of the Clyde to the shores of the sea of Galilee, to the hometown of St. John the Evangelist. Keep track of how much time you spend in prayer, reading the Bible, serving others, or going for a walk. For every 10 minutes, you move us 1km along the journey! Then each week send Teri a note, text, or phone call saying how far you “traveled” this week. So far we have made it to the Semenic-Cheile Carasului National Park, Romania!
*Children’s Time happens each Sunday morning at 11am on Zoom. If you would like the login details, please contact Teri.
*Young Adults (age 15-25ish) gather for Bible Study (it’s now BYOP – bring your own pizza) at 1pm on Zoom. If you would like login details, please contact Teri.
*Churches across Scotland are calling people to join together in prayer on Sunday evenings at 7pm, placing a lit candle in the window and spending time in prayer for others. Our Sunday evening prayer services will be shared across our “Fuzzy Parish” (now called CONNECT). Tonight’s service will be led by Teri at 7pm on the new Connect Facebook page, and be sure to like / follow it while you’re there!
*Feel free to share this with others, with the attribution information at the top. If you know someone who does not have access to the internet and who also does not receive the tape ministry, you can either print this service out and share it with them, or let Teri know via email or phone call and we will be sure they receive a printed copy.
*Mid-week there is a devotional email, which is also printed and included with the following Sunday’s sermon distribution to those without internet access. You can subscribe to the email here.
*Also mid-week there is a facebook live video devotional or a Virtual Tea Break on the St. John’s Gourock Facebook page.
*We now have a youtube channel! You can subscribe there so you never miss a video. Don’t miss “wine and the word” — an occasional series during the 5pm hour that helps us transition from one part of the day to the next, via reflections similar to those that would normally have been in the “God’s Story, Our Story” take home inserts given out each week.
*If you or a church member you know is in need of friendly phone calls or help with anything while they self-isolate, please contact Teri. Elders are already in contact with people in their districts as well, and you can pass information to them! We are hoping to continue and even deepen our connections to one another, building up the Body of Christ even when we can’t be in the building.
~~~~~
If you prefer to read rather than worship by video, you can find the script after the second hymn.
Hymn: I Walk By Faith
Prayers, Genesis 12.1-9 (read by Joe Heffernan), and sermon
Hymn 530: One More Step
~~~~
Call to Worship
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with us, wherever we are, whoever we are, whenever we join in worship.
We are together in spirit, and we trust that our voices will mingle with the whole cloud of witnesses, on earth and in heaven.
So come, from your bedroom or your kitchen, your office or your back garden.
Come, early in the morning or late in the evening.
Come, from next door to the manse or halfway around the globe.
Come, full of faith or full of doubt…or feeling empty, or lost.
Together, hearts joined in hope, we worship the God who calls us.
Let us pray.
God, you speak to us, calling us to come with you.
We thank you for the invitation to be your travelling companions.
We are grateful to be in your presence, and as we turn our attention to you this day, we pause…
…in awe at your beauty and the beauty of all you have made…
…in wonder that you, creator, redeemer, and sustainer, would desire to be in relationship with us….
…in praise for your goodness and faithfulness even when we have faltered in our following.
For we confess, Lord, that we would prefer to have a road map before we set out on your way.
We’d like to know exactly where we’re meant to go, how long it will take, and what we can expect along the way and once we arrive.
We’d like some guarantees of safety, and of having a good time.
Can we get travel insurance?
What sort of cancellation policy do you have?
Forgive us, God…we are so used to being in control.
Forgive us for trying to control you, and for trying to lay out our own path and call it yours.
Forgive us for leaning back on our own comfort rather than forward into your kingdom.
Show us again what it means to walk your way, to join your journey, to trust your leading.
In the power of the Holy Spirit we ask your forgiveness and blessing, in the name of Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Sung Prayer #159 (words: Timothy Dudley-Smith, tune: Lord of the Years by Michael Baughen)
Lord, for ourselves; in living power remake us,
self on the cross and Christ upon the throne;
past put behind us, for the future take us,
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.
Reading: Genesis 12.1-9 (NRSV)
Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages towards the Negeb.
Sermon: Pull up the stakes (Postcards of Faith 1)
This summer we are going on a church family holiday — though we can’t physically go away this year, we can still travel spiritually! And we can still tend our physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing along the way. Members of the church have been walking, running, cycling, praying, reading scripture, and serving others to move us along this journey. Adding up every kilometre we’ve moved our bodies, and every ten minutes we’ve spent nurturing our relationship with God and God’s people, we’ve already managed to get ourselves to the border between Hungary and Romania!
I don’t know about you, but whenever I plan to travel to a new place, I like to look things up to see what to expect. So I spent a few minutes looking into what sorts of food we might eat in Romania — cabbage rolls are apparently very popular. I looked at the satellite images and saw a lot of farm fields. I looked at pictures of the architecture of the villages near the border and saw beautiful, colourful, old churches and homes. I looked at photos of the national park that we would be passing through right now if we were walking the journey in person, and marvelled at how much it looked like the Cairngorms. I’ve never been to Romania before, and everything I knew about it really came from watching gymnastics competitions, so it was an interesting place to learn a little bit about!
When God spoke to Abram and Sarai and told them to go on this journey, leaving their country, their birthplace, their family home in order to be a blessing to those they meet, to the community, to the whole world…they didn’t get a chance to google first. They didn’t ask for more information, or for photos of where they were going, they just packed up everything and went.
And we do mean they packed up everything! Clothes, bedding, cooking utensils, work tools, animals, people, and even their tents. They left behind the place they had known their whole lives, and their parents and siblings and cousins, taking only their nephew whose father had died tragically young. Off they went, not really knowing where they were going, or how long it would take, or what it would be like when they arrived.
In every place they went, they would rebuild their home: pitch tents, lay out bedding, set up a kitchen, pasture the animals, and build an altar. And when it was time to move on, they packed it all up again. This week, I learned that the original Hebrew doesn’t say “moved on” but rather literally “pulled up stakes.” They pulled up stakes and went to the next place. It’s a reminder of just how much work we’re talking about for this journey into the unknown: they have to physically and emotionally uproot their home in order to follow where God is leading them. Each time, perhaps they wonder if this is it…they pound the stakes into the ground…and then after a while, pull them up again. That’s what it means to journey on by stages, to put the stakes in, and then take them out. To build a village of tents, and then fold all that canvas again and tie it to a donkey or a camel. To unpack jars and pots, and then carefully roll them in blankets and pack them up so they won’t break along the way. To set up a spinning wheel and loom and make new clothes and bedding and tents, and then put them away again. To set up an altar and meet God there…and then to leave the altar behind as a witness to the encounter between human and divine.
You would definitely learn to live with only the essentials!
I wonder if there is something for us to learn, though many of us have lived in the same place, or even the same house, for years. Not necessarily about our material things, though that always bears thinking about. But today I’m wondering more about our metaphorical journey through this time. We’ve been called out from our comfortable place, and we don’t really know where we are going. We packed up everything and moved into the unknown world of online worship, virtual afternoon tea, and connecting without seeing each other. The “new normal” is still ahead of us and we aren’t sure what it will be like…all we can do is trust that God will show us, just as God promised to show Abram and Sarai their new homeland.
I wonder, though, if when they pulled up the stakes, were they tempted to go back? Were they tempted to go back to where they knew the lay of the land, and the people, and they could re-build their village and resume their old habits and not have to worry about moving on to the next thing?
I know we certainly are tempted that way!
But instead it says they journeyed on, in stages. Pulling up stakes, and pounding them in. Without even the benefit of google to show them what the landscape looked like or what sorts of foods they should try. Every time they set up camp it would have been slightly different than the one before — different landscape means different organisation of tents and pastures and workspaces, perhaps different arrangements inside their sleeping spaces to take advantage of different light or wind. And I suspect every time they pulled up stakes, they decided on something else that didn’t need to make the next stage of the journey — something whose value wasn’t worth the weight or space or effort of bringing it along. Putting down stakes, and pulling them up…on, and on, because God called them forward into something new, and promised that in them and through them, the entire world would be blessed.
In these days when we have left behind the comfortable ways of being church, the familiar routines and rituals, we have had to learn to build altars wherever we are — to encounter God in our homes, or out on a walk, or in phone conversations, or even over the internet. As we journey on by stages, each time we pull up stakes there’ll be temptation to go back, to settle into old familiar ways. But God is showing us something else…if we are traveling light enough to see it and follow. What things are necessary to take with us? What things are weighing us down and making it harder to move? What markers can we leave behind as a witness to the encounter between human and divine?
Abram and Sarai clearly expected to meet God everywhere they went — otherwise, why build an altar in every camp? And they expected God to lead them onward, stage by stage. Otherwise, why pull up the stakes?
If we, too, expect to meet God everywhere we go, and if we expect God to lead us onward, stage by stage, or phase by phase, we might even say, then perhaps we, too, can be confident enough to pull up the stakes. To leave behind some of the things that have served us well in the past but are not necessary to this part of the journey, and find new ways of living and worshipping and witnessing and serving. We don’t know exactly where we’re going, or how long the journey will be. We do know that the reason behind the journey is to become a blessing to others, perhaps even those we will never meet, and we do know that we are not alone. So we must go forward, step by step.
May it be so. Amen.
Faith Begins By Letting Go (words: Carl P Daw, tune: Dix)
Faith begins by letting go,
giving up what had seemed sure,
taking risks and pressing on,
though the way feels less secure:
pilgrimage both right and odd,
trusting all our life to God.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Holy and Gracious God, we come before you with gratitude for your constant presence, for your faithfulness to your promises, and for your trust in us to be bearers of your blessing in the world. We come with thanks for those who have shown us an earthly image of your heavenly fathering, loving us unconditionally, teaching us, picking us up when we fall and setting us back on the right path when we stray. We remember too that some find today painful, as they long to be a parent, as they grieve the loss of a loved one, as they remember more hard days than good ones — and so we are especially grateful for your perfect love for us, in every circumstance of life.
We also come with burdens, to lay them down with you, for you have promised rest to those who are weary and heavy laden. The world feels in disarray, and we cannot carry this alone…and indeed, you call us not to carry it alone but to bring all things to your care.
And so we bring our grief, the tears we have shed and the ones we have held back, for those we have lost…especially during these times when we cannot be together to weep and laugh and hug. May your comfort surround us.
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We bring our fear, for loved ones near and far, for key workers, for jobs on the line, for news that seems to change by the minute. We are practicing courage, O God, but if we’re honest, we could use a rest. May your strength carry us.
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We bring our prayers for those who are ill, in body, mind, or spirit. We ask your healing power to cleanse and restore, to knit together what is wounded and to lift up what is under pressure. We bring before you those who work so hard to be your healing hands, care workers and nurses and doctors, researchers and scientists, kitchen staff and cleaners, volunteers and family members and neighbours. May your grace flow through them.
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We bring our longing for a better world…for justice and peace, for abundant life for all, and for your creation. We lift up those who are working toward justice, even when it is hard and uncomfortable for us. We remember that this planet is still entrusted to our care, and groaning under our weight. We call to mind those who suffer most — those living in poverty, in refugee camps, in the midst of war; those who look or sound different; those who have known violence and hunger and thirst; those we do not want to see. Make us your hands and feet, visible signs of your love for the outcast, the stranger, the marginalised, the poor. May your justice flow down like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
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You call us to walk by your side, into the unknown. You call us to be a blessing through our living. Help us, O God, to trust you enough to follow your way, in our words and in our deeds, today and all days.
We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
Benediction
As you live this resurrection life, preparing to be a witness to Christ’s love and God’s grace, may you build always on a foundation of Love. And remember: the Spirit of God goes above you to watch over you; the Spirit of God goes beside you to be your companion; the Spirit of God goes before you to show you the way, and behind you — to push you into places you might not go alone; and the Spirit of God goes within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine.
May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Response (tune: Gourock St. John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit, when we meet,
bless sanctuary and street.
